• President looks forward to UNICA 2006 - Max Hänsli
• Message to member federations - Max Hänsli
• Committee report - look ahead to UNICA 2007
• Keywords for Korea - Alois Urbanek
• Cross Border Friendship - Alois Urbanek
• A Look into History - Jaak Jarvine

Dear friends of the Unica 2006 Korea Tour

I am pleased to confirm that the preparations for the great Korea 2006 Tour are running full swing, not only for myself, but also for the Korean organisers. Mr. Chang spares no effort to solve all the problems as soon as they arise and to publicise and promote the great UNICA event in his country. We can rest assured that we will experience something that we can hardly imagine, probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most of us.

We should make something clear about this tour and journey. You will visit a country where so many things are different from what they are here in Europe and we should be aware that we will be steeped in a culture with different tenets and values, including probably a different sense of time. We already had an idea of that almost two years ago when the UNICA Committee paid a visit to Korea. As the time and experiences we had there were so positive, I asked Mr Chang to design a program along the same lines as what we had - and which we "survived"...

We knew that we would land in Seoul after a 10 or 11 hour flight. We also thought that we - some of us being over 70 - would be exhausted. But none of us wanted to miss the starting signal of the circuit and as we were checking into the hotel upon arrival the first evening, we realised that it was such a privilege to have the opportunity to see all that.

Do you really want to miss the visit of the splendid park of Cheong Wa Dae with the Presidential residence? Or the colourful changing of the guard ceremony in front of the magnificent Gyeongbokgung Palace? You have a right to watch from no distance and capture fantastic close-ups. Do you want to miss all that? And the day will end with a stroll in the famous Insadong shopping street in Seoul where you will find marvellous handicrafts, in particular antique ceramics, and various specialities. That will be the first opportunity for you to make special buys ... do you really want to miss that  Isn't that sufficient reason for you to reconsider this idea of spending the first day resting in your hotel room? I do not want to have you change your mind if there is no other way, but if there is, then take advantage of all these opportunities to visit new places.

We will have final information about the following points 2 or 3 months before departure:

• which currency will be most practical? and what is the exchange rate?
• what kind of clothing is most appropriate?
• what kind of footwear (an important point) should you take along?
• do cell phones work properly and what should be done in case of trouble?
• are there restrictions to filming?
• film or photography? etc, etc.

You will receive the air tickets about one month before departure in so far as you ordered and paid them via UNICA. You will then see what time and from which airport - Amsterdam (KLM) or Frankfurt (LH) - you will leave. I will also inform you what you should do to make sure that you have no trouble with your luggage and it is safely delivered upon arrival in Seoul.

A 6-member UNICA team (composed of Hänsli and Kräuchi family members) will be there in Seoul to welcome arriving travellers. The documents and relevant Congress information will be handed over right at the airport and participants will then be distributed by preferred language in the coaches for the five-day tour. Together with your flight ticket you will receive a card to be exchanged for this documentation upon arrival in Seoul Airport.

I will fly to Korea next April to obtain answers to all the issues left open and the questions raised. Moreover, I would like to visit the places and hotels that have been selected after the tour of Committee. Of course, you will be informed immediately after my return about the results and I hope that I can complement this information with original news.

To date about 210 people have registered for the UNICA-tour and Congress in Korea. For those which have ordered a flight via UNICA, the necessary bookings have been made with two airline companies (KLM and Lufthansa), including connecting flights when required. We also received in the mean time relevant information about airport taxes and possible fuel price increases. The corresponding amounts will appear separately on the invoice that you will have received at the end of January. These additional charges should be regarded as provisional as it is impossible at the moment to assess what these amounts will actually in August 2006, but we do not expect to have any significant change in the next few months.

As was recommended by various professionals, we took out insurances in agreement with EU directives. If you ordered your flight from UNICA, there is no change for you. We have circulated relevant information to all "autonomous" travellers concerning the kind of insurance coverage recommended.

In conclusion, I would like to draw your attention to the cancellation and repatriation insurance issue. If you have ordered it at the time of registration, this will appear on the invoice. If you did not, I strongly recommend to do it as soon as possible, unless you already have such an insurance as part of your general insurance policy. In all cases, I suggest that you get in touch with your insurance company and make sure that this cancellation and repatriation coverage is really included. Sorry that I am so insistent but I take as a duty to tell you. Should it appear after asking the question that you need such an insurance (40 ?), please let me know immediately so that I can make necessary arrangements.

I hope that this information will bolster you up in anticipation of this tour!

As usual I am at your disposal if you have any question.

Yours sincerely

Max Hänsli (CHE), UNICA president

To the Federations Affiliated to UNICA

Ladies and gentlemen, dear film friends

I sent you a questionnaire last November and requested you to fill it in and then return it to me; the deadline was December 31, 2005. Unfortunately, no federation - to date - has done so. We do need these data as the organisers in Korea have to set up a schedule and this will obviously be done in relation with the programs announced by the national federations. It is therefore very important to know whether your country will take part in the Contest with a video programme or not. Moreover, we should also have information as to whether your country will be represented by a delegate or if you intend to give a proxy to some other federation. This is also quite important as we have to elect a new committee or confirm the current one in Korea.

I took the liberty of sending the questionnaire again and ask you kindly to return it immediately or as soon as possible Thank you.

NB. Please, provide national programs - as far as possible - in mini-DV format! Only this format is acceptable to take films up into the UNICA Library. Please use DVD only in "emergency" cases.

Thanks for your understanding.

Faithfully yours

Max Hänsli (CHE), President of UNICA

The UNICA-Committee reports
meeting held in Liptovský Mikuláš (SVK) 10th - 13th November 2005

Look Ahead to UNICA 2007

The UNICA Committee met in the city where the UNICA 2007 Congress is to be held. The Committee members had the opportunity to visit the premises where the Congress will be held, including the Projection Hall with a capacity of approximately 350 places, equipped with a large wide screen. Many rooms will also be available for the jury and committee meetings and arrangements will be made for them to be equipped with the advanced IT systems.

A large reception hall next to the movie house has already been booked for the opening and closing events. This other building also offers large rooms where meetings can be held.

The transportation issue was also examined with the Organising committee and arrangements are made to provide transportation to participants by train or bus from Vienna (AUT) or Bratislava (SVK) to Liptovský Mikuláš. The participants will be informed in the course of the coming year. A wide range of smaller hotels is available at very attractive prices in Liptovský Mikuláš city centre. The warm welcome we had at the Ministry for Culture in Bratislava and in Liptovský Mikuláš City Hall showed that the authorities are fully involved and willing to play an active role in the development of the UNICA 2007 event.

We wish all the best to the Organising committee and we are sure that this UNICA Congress will be a great success.

Other Issues

The following items have also been examined on the occasion of the Committee meeting. Here is an abridged report about these issues:

• Proposal from Poland: that national federations be consulted about awarding patronage. After thorough discussion, the Committee agreed about the following procedure :
  • "Applications for UNICA patronage should be submitted to the Secretary-general Jan Essing. The Committee verify these applications and, if approved, the National federation is informed of this decision. The Federation can object to this approval, on the basis of serious reasons. The Committee then re-examines the case and makes a final decision about the awarding of UNICA patronage".
  • It was also decided to ask national federations to make proposals about granting patronage to festivals held in their country at the beginning of the year so that the Committee can examine the applications in due time.

• We are sorry to report that 3 federations have failed to pay the membership fees for two years. According to regulations, a 2nd reminder will be sent to them before the end of the year. They will unfortunately be dismissed from UNICA if they again fail to pay the fees.
• An important item: the latest information about UNICA 2006 in Korea. Some 200 participants have registered, of whom about 160 have adopted the proposal made by UNICA for the tour. The other participants - approximately 40 of them - will book their flight by themselves. Almost all travellers will take part in the tour and the UNICA Congress. I suppose that this high number of participants can be considered as a great success for UNICA. All participants will now be informed on a regular basis about possible changes in the program. The president will fly again to Korea in April to collect answers about open questions, visit the hotels selected to host the participants and visit the new sites that have been included in the program for the half-day excursions. He will inform the participants in due time. Communication with the organisers in Korea is very good and the Committee members are convinced that our friends in Korea will spare no efforts to offer what is best in the country to their guests from all over the world.
• UNICA 2008 in Tunisia. We have indeed received the official application from Tunisia : the UNICA 2008 Congress will be held in the city of Hammamet - just a 35-minute drive from the Tunis-Carthage Airport - from 23 to 31 August 2008. A delegation composed of some UNICA committee members will fly to Hammamet in the Spring of 2006 to collect information, discuss open questions with the organisers, visit the venues and hotels and find solutions to problems (if any…). Here again, film friends will be informed in due time.
• The procedure for the discussion of the films shown at the UNICA Contest was also the object of a thorough debate on the basis of the text that Dave Watterson had provided for publication in the latest issue of UNICA-News. The Committee decided that there will be a debating session only in the evening about the films screened in the course of the day; and the films for which the author attends the Congress should be given priority. This procedure will be tested in Korea and further measures will be taken after assessing this first experiment.
• We should also prepare for another problem that will appear regarding the UNICA Congress in Korea as 2006 is election year for the Committee. Though all current Committee members are running for re-election, national federations have of course the right to submit new candidates. Candidatures should be forwarded to the UNICA Secretary general Jan Essing before 30th April 2006. National federations are kindly requested to provide a short CV for all candidates and let the Secretary general know whether the candidate will come to Korea. Thank you for your understanding.

The UNICA Committee

Keywords for Korea

• Antiques: Antiques more than 50 years old may not be exported.
• Customs: age and seniority are very important in Korea. You will often be asked about your age and marital status. You are not regarded as completely adult, if you are not married.
• Ginseng: a stimulant and tonic which cleans the blood, aids digestion and helps the body into balance. It is available in the form of fresh root, dried, powder, syrup or tea.
• Vaccinations: At present no vaccinations are required but certain basic vaccinations like hepatitis, tetanus are recommended for all trips to Asia.
• Kimchi: is served at almost every meal. It is a fermented vegetable dish whose wealth of bacteria promotes digestion and protects against illness.
• Climate: Korea lies in the temperate climate zone. The UNICA festival takes place in the Korean summer. The weather is roughly comparable with Central Europe, but you should still take an umbrella.
• Costs: the cost of living is similar to Europe.
• Cuisine: the style is aromatic and tangy, with a high nutritive quality which is, nevertheless, low-calorie. Traditionally all foods, including the soup, are served simultaneously at the table. Rice and soup come with a spoon, everything else is eaten with chopsticks.
• Dimensions: Korea uses the international metric system.
• Medicine: "traditional Korean medicine" is recommended to anyone interested in a general health check-up or who would like to find out what deficiencies and problems may exist in their body.
• Quarantine: the import of living animals, animal products such as sausage, fresh fruit and living plants is forbidden.
• Security: Korea is one of the safest destinations on Earth but normal precautions should nevertheless be taken.
• Language: Korean belongs to the Altaic family of languages alongside Hungarian, Turkish, Mongolian and Finnish. In the big hotels English is spoken.
• Chopsticks: eating is usually done with wood or metal chopsticks, so it is a good idea to learn this before setting off for Korea! Usually, however, normal silverware can be provided.
• Taxes: On services and merchandise, the value added tax is 10 percent. You can get a tax refund on some items but must get a payment slip at the time of purchase. When departing get a stamp from the customs officer after showing him the purchased items and payment slip, then go to the Cash Refund Office in the airport.
• Electricity: normally 220 volts 60 Hertz but sometimes you find 110 volts as well. Adapters are necessary.
• Tipping: is not usual. In hotels a 10 percent service charge is often automatically added.
• Visa: you need a valid passport but for stays up to 90 days no visa is necessary for Europeans.
• Currency: the monetary unit is the Won (W). One Euro corresponds to approximately 1.400,--Won. The exchange rate is subject to continuous market fluctuations since it is linked to the dollar. Current credit cards are accepted in hotels, department stores and restaurants.
• Time: the time is 7 hours ahead of Europe. At 12:00 in Berlin it is 19:00 in Korea.
• Customs: if you don't have any dutiable merchandise, use the "nothing to declare" exit at the airport.
• Duty-free: you may bring in to Korea all goods which you will take out again. (Valuable objects like cameras should be noted on the voluntary customs declaration.) You can also bring in 1 bottle of up to 1 litre of alcohol, 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars as well as two ounces of perfume.

-   Alois Urbanek (AUT), UNICA Council Member

Cross-Border Friendship

In November 2005, a film contest between Austria and the Czech Republic took place for the 14th time. This year the people responsible for organising the much-loved event were Herr Hermann Blaschke from Austria and Mr. Ctirad Stipl from the Czech Republic. The event alternates between the countries each year. Each side may choose as many films as it wishes up to a total of two hours worth. The films are assessed and compared to find the best movie from each country, to award the best national programme prize and decide a jury prize for the outstanding video entry.

• M - Martin Lanik was awarded Best Czech Entry.
• Flashback - Fritz & Martin Kober was awarded Best Austrian Entry.
• Glasperlenspiel - Ernst Thurner was awarded the Jury Prize.
• The award for best national programme went to the Czech Republic.

However, the true purpose is to bring film makers from both countries together. Over the years many good friendships have begun that away.

This most recent event - in Austria - was another big success. We recommend this type of international film contest as a means of encouraging better understanding between peoples.

Alois Urbanek (AUT), President of the Austrian Film Federation

A Look into History

This publication gives a short survey of the history of non-professional filmmaking in the former Soviet Union between1920 and1991. Some essential facts concerning the period up to 2005 are referred to in the part on Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

The book covers all the relevant film festivals in the Soviet Union and other aspects of non-professional filmmaking. It also gives a short summary of the history of non-professional filmmaking in all the former Soviet Republics.

Readers will find a survey of the activities of several all-Union bodies: the USSR Association of Film Friends (founded in 1988) and other organizations coordinating non-professional filmmaking activities. There is separate chapter dedicated to the results achieved by Soviet non-professional filmmakers at the UNICA festivals between1966 and 1991and at other festivals.

It includes a separate section on the history of non-professional filmmaking in the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), together with the development of Baltic Non-professional Film Festivals (1967 - 2004).

- Jaak Järvine (EST), President of the Estonian Film Federation

Page updated on 14 February 2008

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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